Have you ever thought about how the mobile phone in your pocket or the computer in front of you got here? They are the result of nearly 200 years of invention and improvement in telecommunications. Today our 'telecommunications highway' is fast and fun. And it helps us connect with places all over the world.

© Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

From the Morse Code to WAP: A Telecommunications Timeline

Roll over the years to find out how technology has changed the way we communicate.
Click here to download the whole timeline.

Think of the technology that you now take for granted, and go back to the year you were born. What didn't exist back then? How would the way you communicate be different if you were now living in that year? How do you expect telecommunications to change in the future, say in 10 years, or even 20 years' time?

Advances in telecommunications are also transforming the way products are manufactured and sold. Take a laptop, for example. Click here to download information about the different people and places that might be involved if you order a new laptop. In groups, cut up and sort out the information. Either create a flow diagram or display the pieces of information on a world map to show the global chain that makes sure you get your laptop.

© David Dahmen/Panos Pictures

Many people are involved in making it possible for you to own a laptop and dispose of it at the end of its life.

• In your groups, each click on one of the links in the chain.
• Using symbols, pictures, numbers and no more than ten words, produce a quick poster to outline the story behind your link in the chain.
• Share your poster with the rest of your group - can they make sense of it?
• As a group, identify what problems arise for both people and the environment along the chain.
• How could these problems be overcome?
• Who should take responsibility for these problems?

The Network Age

A country's money, workforce and resources used to be the main engines of economic development. But in the 21^st century, the flow of information and creativity through technology may give a country its competitive edge.

Visit Putrajaya.net to see how the lives of Malaysians are being improved through technology in the new wired-up city of Putrajaya.

Yet technology is not equally shared and many people remain 'unplugged'. Go to the next page to find out more about the so-called 'digital divide'.